A/N-Hello everyone. Here is the longest chapter so far, and the last chapter of their Fourth Year. I hope you enjoy it!I don't own Harry Potter.More notes at the end.

So, yeah, she's a coward.

She wasn't even in the Hospital for a full day but she couldn't build up the nerve to tell him on that day. Or the few days after it. But, then, the longer she waited, the more daunting it became. And after a week or so, it became completely terrifying. There were times that she couldn't even look at him because she was too scared of telling him. Too scared that, if she said something, she'd lose him.

He had already told her she was his best friend. She knew what that meant for her, but could she be sure that it meant the same for him? Did he even rely on her in anything resembling the way she relied on him? In those moments when it was the two of them, and she found her comfortable spot by his side, on his shoulder or with his head on her lap, she could feel the adoration they had for each other. But, then, she thought about telling him and all of her insecurities came back. They would be silent with each other, and she wouldn't be able to hear him say something that would calm her. If she said how stressed she was, he'd have to know why and then he might abandon her. Who wouldn't?

Hermione Granger had been a loner all her life. She had always been the know-it-all, the outlier and the freak. In muggle school, she was convinced she was a freak. At Hogwarts, she was convinced that she was out of place or crazy. She had found some like-minded people in Ravenclaw, but never any true friends. Even those 'study acquaintances' abandoned her when they began to be intimidated by her, or just thought she was crazy after attacking Malfoy.

But then, Harry Potter happened and she found friends. She was a little cautious at first but quickly let go and made some real friends. She even started to like a boy. That had never happened before. Well, not properly anyway. She'd had crushes, sure. Crushes on far away figures that wanted nothing to do with her. Handsome boys and idolic muggle celebrities. But, she'd never liked a guy like she liked Harry.

She knew him. He knew her, and knew her well. They trusted each other, confided in each other and supported each other when needed. However, now the stakes were a little higher. One sentence and the truest good in her life could crumble. She could lose Harry and all of his friends would choose him and no longer be hers. Wouldn't they?

Well, perhaps not. The girls always kept her close by now. They wouldn't just abandon her. But she'd never seen them when backed into a corner and forced to make a decision like this. If they had to choose between Harry and her, why wouldn't they choose the one who they'd been friends with for longer? Why wouldn't they choose the popular guy over the school's main pariah?

Deep down, she knew they would never forsake her. She even knew that Harry would never ditch her if he didn't feel the exact way she felt about him. She knew him and trusted him. But, a lifetime of insecurity and insufficient encouragement in this area didn't allow her to take the risk.

So, that's how she found herself on the last day of the year, in late June, at the Ravenclaw table during the End of Year Feast. She was sat with Padma beside her and Luna opposite, as she ploughed through her lasagne and chips. She was quiet though. After the last month, since her exams ended, she had not got anywhere near where she wanted to be with Harry. She had even started to feel anxious around him because of what was left unsaid. Worst of all, she had promised that he would be the first to know, so she hadn't confided in her friends at all.

That's why Padma and Luna were quiet too. They were worried about her, she could tell, but didn't know what to do about her sullenness and couldn't find light hearted conversation topics to brighten the atmosphere. Eventually, Padma clearly grew tired of it so decided to bite the bullet.

"Right, what's going on Hermione?" she demanded. Hermione didn't know how to respond so went with playing dumb, which was dumb.

"What do you mean?" Luna was the one who answered that, in the ever innocent, blunt way she always did.

"You look depressed. And you haven't spoken all meal. I was wondering if it were a Wrackspurt or Nargle infestation, or, Merlin forbid, both at once! But, given the time of year, it doesn't make as much sense. So there must be something troubling you. Do you agree, Padma?"

"Yes Luna. I do agree. Completely. Come on, talk to us Hermione." She sighed, not seeing a way out of this conversation. So, the next decision was what lie to tell.

But, then she looked at them. Luna was looking at her with a look of simple curiosity. From her experience with Luna, she knew there'd be no judgement. Just, possibly, some very strange advice. Padma, on the other hand, looked pained and caring. It was clear she didn't like seeing Hermione like this. She genuinely wanted to help. So, after some internal berating and encouragement, she let go of the lies and came clean.

"Fine." she said with a sigh. "I may have lied to you Pad. I know I said I don't like Harry in that way, but I... Christ, I really do. The only reason I lied is because I wanted to have the conversation with him first. He's the one I trust the most so I didn't think it was right to talk to anyone other than him about it first. But, I lost my nerve. I kept thinking about... Oh, I don't know. I'm just lost." She lowered her head, leaning it on her hands, and closed her eyes.

"You kept thinking about everything that could go wrong." Padma's voice asserted. Hermione let out a sudden, shaky breath as she heard it and nodded slightly. "Yup, most people do. It's completely normal, Herm. Sorry... Hermione. Need to stop doing that." she berated herself. But, Hermione realised that she didn't need to. Not anymore.

"No, its OK. I'm kind of warming to the whole nickname thing. I mean, I can't exactly call you Pad if I'm not willing to let you shorten my name. It's kind of a fuss to say Hermione every time, isn't it?" she said, with a humourless chuckle.

"Oh, alright then. Anyway, those kinds of insecurities you have to just ignore. If you always give into them, you'll never get anywhere with anyone. Besides, we're talking about Harry Potter, right? The guy who came up to you when no one else would? The guy who's made you feel welcome in a way no-one else ever has? You can't really think he'd ditch you just because he didn't feel the same way? Which, might I add, is absolutely impossible!" Padma encouraged.

"Yes, I agree." Luna added. "While he can be a bit reckless, and possibly a little insensitive with some of his pranks, he's very kind. He'd never actively hurt someone. Nor would he hurt someone he cares about. And it's very clear he cares about you more than most. Nothing bad can come from being honest with him, in my opinion. Honesty is always the best way to go."

Hermione smiled at both of her friends, both of whom smiled back kindly. Of course, she did know all of this, but something about hearing other people say it, hearing that other people thought it like she did, made it all the more real. It was so much more encouraging and made overcoming her insecurities that much easier.

She turned to look over at the Gryffindor table, and saw all of her other friends. As was often the case, Neville and Ginny were chatting and laughing happily. There was something about that dynamic that was so wholesome and right. Hermione remembered her first impression of Neville. He was an insecure, unfortunately accident prone and clumsy young man, losing his toad on the train to their first year. But, he also had a remarkable lack of self-confidence. He was always quiet, especially after the first few weeks of first year because. Every time he was loud or in the spotlight in anyway, he was ridiculed or embarrassed. Not in the least, by Snape. He always seemed to find entertainment in torturing Neville.

Neville even got suspended from the ceiling in second year by pixies after that moron, Lockhart, let them loose in their first lesson. Thank whatever's good and holy that he didn't last the year. Blasted fraud. Hermione was always suspicious of him and never understood the obsession most other girls had with him. Really!... Honestly!... She didn't!... Whatever.

Then there was Ginny. She joined a year after them, in the same year as Luna and Padma. She was always very confident, fierce and quite a bit like her brother. She could be a little insensitive, and aggressive when provoked, even just a little. So, Hermione could see how they complimented each other. Ginny helped Neville with his confidence and Neville could calm Ginny down whenever she might overreact. It was cute. No wonder Ron always sent Neville the stink eye. Like he was at right that very moment.

However, he was also chatting amicably with the other boys. Hermione was glad that they had cemented a friendship, herself and Ron. He was, by no means, one of her closest friends, he drove her too mad for that to be the case. Not too long ago, he had the audacity to suggest that she was jealous of his success at a certain Transfiguration spell, causing her to be 'overly harsh' about his Potions essay. He was bloody lucky she was helping him at all after that! Though, they did get along well enough, especially in the group. They teased each other a lot, but it was usually quite clear that it was all fun and games. It only got out of hand and personal once or twice. The grudge never lasted.

Lavender and Parvati were chatting, hardly taking breaths as they gossiped, which was quite clearly what they were doing. They pointed, subtly, over at Millicent Bulstrode and then to McGlaggen. Could something have changed there? Trouble in paradise? Not that there was anything 'officially' going on there, of course. Not at all. For example, Hermione had definitely not heard them necking in the library a few weeks before the exams. But, she, legitimately, hadn't seen them anywhere near each other in a while. She didn't want to be interested, but kind of was. She hadn't got over Millicent's involvement in the attack yet, however. She wouldn't be feeling guilty about gossiping about her for a while.

Hermione turned, then, to the Slytherin table. She located the group that had attacked her. They all, still, seemed rather sullen and quiet. News of the incident had spread quite quickly over the few days following it. People had been sending those Slytherins dirty looks. Even other Slytherins were acting as if they had the plague, or something. They were not popular in the school for the rest of the school year. Word did reach her ears that some believed that the only reason they weren't expelled, Malfoy in particular, was because of Malfoy's father's position and influence on the school and the Ministry.

Hermione, however, had become even less of a pariah. People seemed to relax around her even more. It was common knowledge now that she was close with the Gryffindors and that her confrontations with Malfoy were always provoked and justified, on her part. Now, she wasn't a freak or crazy. She was just another student. And a brilliant one at that. She got smiles in the corridor now, people said hello and younger students even asked her for help once in a while. Her life had improved greatly.

Of course, not everything after the attack was fine and dandy. She was in pain for a while. She, also, was not allowed to be alone in the corridors anymore. The teachers were worried for her safety, so they decided that she must always be accompanied around the castle, if not by her friends then by a teacher. The Slytherins were kept away from her but the precautions were still adhered to. Malfoy and his goons were also awarded with detentions for the rest of the term and the entirety of the first term of the next year, losing about 100 points apiece for their house.

In comparison, the Gryffindors only got three detentions each and gained as many points as they lost. There house points were only a little higher than they had been before the fight. Obviously, Hermione and Padma were not punished in the slightest.

She turned back to the Gryffindor table and let her eyes rest on Harry for a while. Even though he had been her best friend since January, she still could not get past how much he had done for her. Her life was considerably better than it had been before he came and sat in front of her in the library. She would never not be entirely grateful and, slightly, devoted to him from now on. She could never truly repay him for all he had done for her, however simple he had made it seem.

He, then, caught her eye. He smiled at her, that same lop-sided grin she had been admiring since that first meeting by their tree all those months ago. It never failed to make her smile grow too. For a few moments, they simply smiled at each other, the rest of the world melting away. She could tell him. She knew she could tell him. So, she would tell him.

The bliss of the moment was then interrupted by a surprisingly loud clink of a fork against a glass from the staff table. Their connection was broken and they were forced to look forward as Professor Dumbledore stood to give his speech for the end of the year.

"Well, another year gone. I, with the rest of the staff, hope you have all had a fulfilling, successful year and look forward to seeing what each and every one of you achieve next year. However, not everyone is coming back. Our seventh years have finished their final school exams and now the world awaits them. I would just like to take a moment to congratulate every single one of you on your exceptional performances throughout your years at Hogwarts and, I speak for the entire staff when I say, we are incredibly proud of you all and cannot wait to see where your lives take you next." He stopped speaking then to start clapping. The rest of the hall joined suit and applauded the seventh years. After a few moments, the clapping faded and the Headmaster continued.

"Now, before we welcome our dessert, it is time to award the House Cup. It has been a turbulent end to the year, concerning the house points, and it is a uniquely close call this year. In last place, Slytherin with 112 points." Hermione caught the Gryffindors smiling at that. She couldn't help but smile as well, feeling satisfied that they were still being duelly punished for what they did to her and Padma. "In third place, Ravenclaw with 397 points." Hermione realised that she hadn't actually been keeping tabs in the house points this year, but was happy with her house getting third place. They were, also, 285 points ahead if Slytherin, which just made it more satisfying still. "In second place..." he left a dramatic pause. "with 410 points is... Gryffindor!" There was a round of applause for the lions but the cheers from the Hufflepuff table were already rising. "Which means the winners this year, scraping it with 416 points, is Hufflepuff." The Headmaster picked up the House Cup from beneath the staff table and approached the Hufflepuffs, handing it over to Cedric Diggory, their most senior Prefect. The loudest cheer from the Ravenclaw table was, without a doubt, coming from Cho Chang.

"Well," Dumbledore continued when he returned. "it seems that there is no more reason for delay. Dessert is served!" Just as he said it, the main courses disappeared from the tables and were replaced by a massive range of different desserts. "Please, dig in! As it's the final night, we won't dismiss you as usual. You may stay and socialise until 11 at the latest. Except, those in third year and below, you have until 9. Do enjoy your late nights, and have a safe journey home tomorrow. Good night. " he finished as he sat down and tucked into his own dessert.

The rest of the night was a lovely affair. After approximately half an hour, the students started to stray from their own tables and went in search of their other friends. Hermione, Padma and Luna all migrated over to the Gryffindor table and had a fabulous night. Hermione's gaze did wander over to Harry quite a lot. She got several knowing smirks from Padma.

She also discovered that Lavender and Parvati had, previously, been discussing that they witnessed McGlaggen and Millicent arguing in a corridor earlier on that day. McGlaggen had been ending their courtship definitively because of her involvement with the attack on Hermione. While she didn't think too highly of Cormac McGlaggen, given that he definitely had his nose way too far up his own backside, he clearly had some of his priorities straight.

The night was full of laughs, a little bit of crying at the prospect of leaving and only one slighted heated debate between Ron and Hermione. Why he decided that supposed 'good girls' always had a 'naughty' side she couldn't fathom. Patronising arse.

The goodnights were surprisingly emotional, even for Hermione. It started to register with her that the next day was the last before the summer holidays. Would anything change in that time? Would they write to her? Did they even write to each other? Would her writing to them be strange? Who knew! But, one look at Harry's smile as they turned to each other for their goodnight calmed those nerves. Of course, everything will be fine. Thank Merlin for Padma and Luna, otherwise that might not have been enough.

"Well, goodnight Mione. See you tomorrow." he said, pulling her into an embrace outside Ravenclaw Tower.

"That you will, Harry. Sleep well." she replied, smiling into his shoulder.

"I'll try. You're getting a carriage to the station with us in the morning, right?"

"Err, yeah sure. Is there enough space for all of us?"

"Yeah, course. Seamus will happily sit in Dean's lap, I'm sure." he assured her with a chuckle.

"Oh right. Hey, just out of interest, are they...?"

"Oh, no. They're just very close and comfortable around each other. Don't tell anyone I told you this, but Seamus has a massive crush on Parvati. It's bad!" Hermione's jaw dropped.

"No way." she insisted, copying Harry's whispered tone. "Are you serious?"

"Mmmhmm. You remember the other day when Seamus hit his knee on the armchair? He had been staring at her so didn't look where he was going. It's really bad." he explained, barely holding in his laughter now. Hermione was in a similar state.

"Oh my! I can't believe I never picked up on that! Ooh! Another thing." she continued, still whispering given everyone was still right next to them. "Neville and Ginny. IIs something happening there?"

"Oh, yes. Not that they know it properly yet. Neville has admitted, to me and me alone, that he really likes her. He's not telling Ron that, for reasons I think you can imagine. But, we don't know about Ginny. I said it's fairly clear, but he's doubting himself. We'll have to wait and see.

"I knew it!" Hermione rejoiced. Then, she remembered the time. "Ooh, you guys need to go. We'll see you in the morning." she said, louder so everyone could hear. Then, she did something she had never done before. She leaned upwards and kissed Harry on the cheek, feeling her face go red in the process. She then quickly waved to all of the others and then hurried into Ravenclaw Tower.

As they were heading up, she noticed Padma and Luna's matching, mischievous grins. "Shut-up." she insisted, but matching their grins at the same time.

Unfortunately, she didn't have any significant alone time with Harry in the morning. It was all a bit of a rush. They met in the Hall, had breakfast and then crammed themselves into a carriage together. Seamus was, indeed, sitting on Dean's lap. She watched him for a moment, amused when she noticed him glance at Parvati repeatedly.

When they arrived, they found themselves a compartment, which they all fit in much more comfortably, and waited for the train to leave. Thankfully, it didn't take too long.

They found several ways to pass the time. The boys played several games of exploding snap, the girls joined in every now and then. But, they mostly just chatted, with some gossiping thrown in, of course.

"No way! Justin actually asked you out?" Faye exclaimed, looking at Ginny with an expression that seemed to be half amusement and half horror.

"Yes, he did." she confirmed with a grimace. "He walked up to me, just as I was saying bye to Hannah this morning, and said, in that horrific, obnoxious posh voice 'So, Ginny, I think it's time we forgo with the pretense and go to dinner. Why don't you give me your address and I'll owl you with the details, eh?' " The whole compartment howled at her impression of him.

"That's how he asked you? That was hardly even asking, to be honest. Sounds like he thought it had already been decided and he was just asking about the logistics! Blimey." Hermione exclaimed, disbelieving.

"I know! I don't get how he thought I liked him. Its not like I ever joined in with whatever horse crap he was trying to talk my ear off about. He's lucky I didn't smack him!"

"He's lucky Ron wasn't there." Seamus added.

"Urgh! Ron, I'm warning you! If you ever get yourself involved in my love life, I won't resist smacking you. That, or I'll bat bogey hex you. I'm getting pretty good at it!" Everyone laughed at the shade Ron's ears turned at that.

The journey continued in a similar fashion, until they had about half an hour left of the journey and a certain someone stopped outside their compartment door. It took a moment for anyone to notice, but when they did, they all stiffened and glared at the pale blonde through the glass. Malfoy's gaze was stuck to Hermione, but she glared right back at him.

She did, however, notice something behind the anger in his eyes. It was the same fear and desperation that she had seen that night. It was clear he was trying to mask it behind the anger, but she could see it plain as day. He was terrified. Her glare turned into a look of confusion and interest. Malfoy seemed to notice this and the anger dissipated and the fear overwhelmed his features. He didn't hesitate to leave seconds later.

"Geez. What a wuss. Couldn't even stare us down without running away." came Ron's voice. But Hermione wasn't paying attention. Her interest was piqued by that expression. What could he possibly be afraid of? It's not like she ever did anything to him unprovoked.

Then, before she knew it, she was getting off the train with her friends. The first thing she saw on the platform was a couple that could not be mistaken for anyone other than Malfoy's parents. They both had long blonde hair and were completely stony faced. The only emotion being conveyed was anger, from the man. Her assumption was correct, she discovered, as Malfoy approached them. Although, he didn't say anything. There was a brief moment of eye contact between Draco and his father, before his father walked away. He didn't say anything, he just turned and headed for the barrier. Malfoy looked at his mother, who didn't say anything either, just looked at him. She seemed to be disappointed. She gestured for him to follow and they left after his father. Malfoy looked sullen and resigned. Hermione suddenly had a thought. Maybe there was a reason Malfoy tried to assert his power over everyone else at school.

Then, her gaze found another Slytherin, mere metres away from where Malfoy had been. She was on her tiptoes, scanning the crowd, a look of desperation on her face. Then, she found her target. McGlaggen was walking along the platform as Millicent Bulstrode tried to put herself in his path. He didn't spare her a single glance as he shoved his way passed her. Her eyes started tearing up as she looked on, her secret ex walking off, seemingly not giving her a second's thought.

Hermione knew different however. Cormac had yet to pass her, so she could see the tears welling up in his eyes as well. Was this more than just a hook up? They really did seem to be heartbroken at the end of this. Both of them. They were both hurting. Were they really...? That eventuality had never actually occurred to her. Suddenly, she felt a rush of compassion for both of them, but, she quickly stamped it down, remembering that the reason they broke up was because of what Bulstrode had done to her. She had no room to care about her now. She turned away.

Then she was faced with what was likely to be the hardest part of this day; she had to actually say goodbye to all of her new friends. She had to say goodbye to Harry.

They were all stood together, in a sort of huddle, for a while, procrastinating from the inevitable. There was an uncomfortable silence, before Ginny broke it.

"Hermione, here." she said, handing her a scrap of paper. "It's my address. Our address, I guess." she explained, gesturing at Ron. "Just in case you wanted to send us an owl or something. We'd love to hear from you. Maybe we could even arrange meeting up. Of course, that goes for all of you." Hermione grinned at her. She definitely wanted to do that.

"Oh, wait. I wanna write mine down. Anyone have a quill and ink?" Lavender asked. She looked around and found a series of blank faces. All except Dean.

"Here." he said, revealing a ballpoint pen. "I always carry one of these round just in case something like this happens." Lavender took it, still a little cautious.

"And ink?" she asked. Dean, Harry and Hermione all suppressed gentle laughter.

"The ink is already in it." he explained. Lav's jaw slacked. She grabbed the paper and wrote down her address.

"That's so cool!" Hermione couldn't stop herself at quietly chuckling at how endearing it was to see a witch marvel at muggle ingenuity. Then, everyone took the paper and pen and added their address to the list. She didn't stop smiling the whole way round. It was such a testament to the year, seeing all of her friends write down their addresses for her to contact them over the summer. If there was ever any doubt that these were friends she would have for a long time, they were eradicated at the sight before her.

Harry was the last to jot down his home before handing it back to her. She nearly cried as she thanked them all. But, a sudden flaw in this plan occurred to her and nearly broke her heart.

The round of goodbyes was emotional, for her most of all. She hardly wanted this year to be over. She didn't want to be separated from her friends at all. But, she sucked it up anyway. She let out a wet laugh as she received a group hug from Lav, Parv, Pad and Faye, after her initial round of individual hugs.

"Promise we'll meet up, all of us, at some point this summer. We can't not! Especially now that we've got Hermione as well!" Lavender insisted.

"Definitely." Hermione replied. "I don't want to go a whole 2 months without seeing you all. Yes, Ronald. All of you." she finished with a laugh. He smiled at her, but shook his head.

"I thought we had a deal about my name, Hermy!"

"Must have slipped my mind." she replied with a smile. Then, Mr and Mrs Patil arrived and ushered their daughters away. The four of them waved as they retreated to the barrier. The next to leave was Dean. He explained that he had to meet his parents on the regular platform, them being muggle and all, so they waved him off as well. Fred and George came and, basically, shoved Ron and Ginny along the Platform, saying a fleeting goodbye to the others, Faye saw her parents a little way away so bid them farewell before hurrying off. Lavender did the same a few moments later, albeit with a hug and kiss on the cheek for Hermione. That just left Harry and Hermione.

They turned to each other and smiled. They stayed like that for a few moments before Hermione remembered the problem she had with contacting her friends over the holiday and decided it would be best to say something to Harry.

"Umm, Harry?" He hummed an affirmative response, nodding for her to go on. "I don't actually have my own owl. And my parents have never let me have pets. They don't like animals in the house. I've only ever used Hogwarts owls. How am I supposed to send everyone letters?"

"Oh! Bugger. Ummm... Well, do you want to give me your address and I'll send Hedwig to you? Then, you can send letters with him when he arrives? He likes long flights so don't feel bad about giving him several letters at once. But you can also send replies to the others with their own owls when they contact you." She beamed at him. He was still making her life easier, even just as they were about to say goodbye.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to send me as many letters as you can! Who knows if the others' owls will wait for my reply. You'll just to write to me every day!" she said with a cheeky grin.

"I'm sure I can manage that." he replied, copying her grin. Then, his smile faded and his expression became more serious. "I'm gonna miss you Hermione. A lot." She didn't even try to resist wrapping her arms around his neck then. She flung herself at him and buried her face in the crook of his neck.

"I'm gonna miss you too. So much." she pulled back and locked her eyes with his. "And don't you dare wuss out of writing down your deepest emotions in those letters! I'll be able to tell if you're not telling me everything!"

"I wouldn't dream of it." Their eyes didn't leave each other for several moments, still holding to one another. Hermione focused on his dazzling green eyes and saw something. The same something that had been present in his gaze that night, after they had beaten Malfoy. She hadn't recognised it then. But now. She watched it and she knew what it was. It was the same look that she had been giving him. He looked, so plainly, the same as she was feeling. It wasn't just her. He felt the same way for her too. Their foreheads touched. Neither of them had realised that they had been unconsciously leaning towards each other, but neither of them backed off. Her hands lowered from his neck to rest on his chest, his hands rubbing circles in her back. "We're going to see each other soon. I'm not going 2 months without seeing you. I'm just not." She smiled again. She could never not smile around him.

"I'm glad we agree." She felt, then, that they had made a promise. They hadn't said the word, but it was there. They had promised, and neither of them would dream of going back on that promise. They both wanted to see the other as often as possible. So they would. They promised with the look they were giving each other at that moment. They promised with the possessiveness in their hands. They promised with the adoration in their eyes.

He was everything. She hadn't let herself think that yet. She had avoided it, thinking it was too soon. But he was everything. Everything she needed, everything she wanted and everything she would always adore. Her heart was beating 100 times a minute as her head raced through these revelations. She felt so close to him.

So close.

"HARRY!" In their surprise, they both jumped. Heartbreakingly, that broke the connection of the moment, but they both looked straight to where the shout had come from.

Running towards them was a small boy, whose undeniably ginger hair was so dark it was nearly brown, his eyes wide, the same bright green as Harry's. He definitely wasn't ten yet, around 7 or 8 she would've guessed. Then, she remembered who he must be. Her suspicions were confirmed only a moment later when Harry dropped to his knees and stretched out his arms.

"Jack! Hello my man!" he exclaimed as Jack barrelled into his arms, wrapping his own around his older brother's neck. "How are you?"

"I'm really good! We're going to Nando's for dinner!" the younger Potter answered enthusiastically as he pulled out of the hug.

"Nando's? How exciting is that?! I can't wait!" Jack then turned around and called out in the direction he had just appeared from.

"Mum! Ruby! I found him!"

"So you have!" said a woman who managed to weave her way through the crowd, a toddler in her arm. She was stunning. She was dressed casually, had long, silky ginger hair and a radiant smile as she approached. She was immediately intimidated by her. Not only by her beauty, but by the knowledge of who she was. Lily Potter. "Hi, sweetie. How was the journey?" she asked as she embraced her eldest.

"Not bad. Quite fun really. Most of the others have gone now. Hiya Ruby! How are you?!" he then asked the girl in Lily's arms. The station was too loud to quite make out what she said in response but it must have been cute because Lily and Harry both chuckled a little, and Harry then kissed her on the forehead. "Uh, Mum, Jack, this is Hermione." Lily turned to look at Hermione and she got even more nervous. But, Lily's smile widened as she stepped towards Hermione and shook her hand.

"It's lovely to finally meet you Hermione. Harry's talked about you a lot. I'd hug you but this one is a little cagey with new people." she said, nodding to 3 year old Ruby.

"Oh, of course, don't worry. It's lovely to meet you too. I can't lie, Harry's talked a lot about you as well and I just want to say I think you're amazing! I'm a muggleborn too and I find what Harry's told me about you really very inspiring."

"Oh please! You'll make me blush." Lily replied, laughing a little. "Well, I'm glad you understand that we muggleborns have just as much to offer the wizarding world as anyone else! Especially us chicas huh?" she said, bumping her hip against Hermione's as she winked. Hermione beamed and giggled a little in response.

She, then, felt a tug on her jacket. She looked down to see Jack looking up at her.

"I'm Jack and I'm 7!"

"Its lovely to meet you, Jack! Harry's told me about you too! It's lovely to put a gorgeous face to the name." Jack beamed in response, then looked proudly at his mother and brother.

"Ooh, mum. Do you have a pen?" Harry suddenly asked.

"A pen? Uh, yeah. Why?"

"We need one so Hermione can give us her address so we can owl her. She can't get her own so I'm gonna send Hedwig so she can contact everyone."

"Oh, of course." she replied and fished pen out of her jacket pocket, handing Ruby over to Harry so she could dig further. She handed Hermione a pen and a small business card for a book shop that looked very worn. She scribbled down her address and handed it back. "Fab, thank you." she said, beaming, before turning back to Harry. "Right, we need to hurry now. We're meeting Rory and your dad at the restaurant and he, being who he is, booked it dangerously early so we need to be quick to get their in time. It was so lovely to meet you Hermione. I hope to see you soon."

"Oh, I hope so too." she replied as Lily took Jack's hand and started to turn away. She looked back at Harry, desperate to hold on to a last few moments with him before she had to wait, hopefully not too long, to see him again. He smiled at her again, before stepping towards her and, without so much as a hesitation, kissed her, full on the mouth. She hadn't been expecting him to actually do it after their interruption, but it barely took a second for her to kiss back. It was a taste of heaven. It was all the warmth and care and love she had come to know from him and more. She could taste him and she could feel the love from him. The only bad thing, it was very fleeting.

She had only mere moments to ruminate in the feeling because he pulled back, winked and then went off to follow his mother, Ruby still propped up in his arms. She couldn't blame him for keeping moving, his mother had just told him to, but she would've liked another moment or two, at least! She saw Lily walking away, now having retrieved Harry's belongings in a trolley and she watched as they disappeared through the barrier.

Now, she had to go and meet her parents on the muggle platform. She retrieved her own stuff and made her way to the barrier, feeling more optimistic than ever, if a little bitter. Ever since she had got to know Harry, everything seemed to be going up hill, and it showed no signs of stopping now. She walked out into King's Cross with the biggest, beaming smile anyone had ever seen.

And there we have it! Fourth year concluded! Thank you soooo much to everyone who has been reading, reviewing and showing both love and criticism! It means the world to me! But, I thought I'd give you a heads up. I've told you that this'll be it for a while now, to give me time to do uni work, maybe do one or two short fics, one or two-shots, and plan out and write fifth year! However, I do have some plans and one of those may be coming to fruition a little sooner. Keep an eye out for a bonus chapter in the next week or so in which you'll get a little teaser as to what might be coming in the future of this story! Thanks again and love to you all! Xx